Following WWE’s Survivor Series event, we open Smackdown with Mark Henry limping down to the ring with a boot and crutch on his leg. Henry is really selling this injury well. Henry says the fans are happy that he’s injured and they all wish they were the ones who could have done it to him. The fans chant “you suck” and Henry goes on to say that he kicked Show in the knee and that he made it look like it was downstairs. Henry says he is out here for all the kids and he is here to show them that a champion fights through pain. Henry continues to run his mouth and this brings down the Big Show. The two exchange words. Henry calls Show the world’s largest loser. Show delivers the knockout blow to Henry. Show leaves the ring. Daniel Bryan comes down and cashes in his MITB briefcase. Bryan rolls Henry over and gets the three count to become the new World Heavyweight Champion! If I hadn’t read the spoiler results, I would’ve been jumping out of my seat. Teddy Long got to ruin the moment by pointing out that Mark Henry wasn’t cleared to wrestle and therefore the match didn’t occur. Long gives Henry back the WHC title and then gives the MITB briefcase to Bryan. Long books Bryan in a fatal four way tonight with Orton, Barrett, and Rhodes with the winner receiving a World Title match on this Tuesday’s live Smackdown! This whole opening segment was loaded with excitement and I couldn’t be happier for Daniel Bryan to finally be getting his big push into the World Title scene.
Up next we had Justin Gabriel taking on Hunico. Anybody else like Hunico’s brawler style that he’s taken on since he took off the mask? These guys both showcased their talent during this match and it was unfortunately overshadowed by the fact that the announce team wouldn’t shut up about Daniel Bryan and the MITB situation. I like both of these guys and I think they’ll become a staple to the mid card roster in the coming months. Gabriel would be the perfect face to take the Intercontinental Title off Cody Rhodes, but I expect Ted Dibiase to take that role first. Hunico was able to pick up the victory in this match with the senton bomb on Gabriel. Allowing Gabriel to lose in this match shows the confidence that Creative must have in Hunico going forward.
Natalya and Beth Phoenix took on AJ and Kaitlyn with Alicia Fox on commentary. Natalya started the match with Kaitlyn and Kaitlyn was dominant until she tagged in AJ. AJ got a little bit of offense and was then taken down by Natalya who applied the sharpshooter for the fast victory. Kaitlyn goes over to AJ after the match and shrugs her shoulders at her. She leaves the ring and Natalya goes to apply the sharpshooter while Beth grabs the mic and says it’s cry time. After far too long, Alicia stands up and gets into the ring and Natalya and Beth back off. Keeping the divas segment short is a very good idea.
Another Kane return promo. I’m not sure who they’ll put him in feud with off the jump, but Mark Henry would make the most sense whether he is champion or not. We come back from commercial and Teddy Long is on his phone talking about Mick Foley hosting the live Smackdown this Tuesday. Aksana interrupts and starts to do the typical flirt scene until Henry cuts in and yells at Long. Henry goes off on Long for booking him in a match next week. These two actually have great chemistry together. It’s almost like they might be friends or something. Long then tells Henry that his match this Tuesday will be inside a steel cage. Henry gets pissed again and leaves. We go over to Zack Ryder and Sheamus backstage talking about Ryder’s US Title petition. They joke around about Sheamus’ theme song and then talk about kicking the asses(arses, as Sheamus puts it) of Swagger and Ziggler tonight. Ryder gives the WWW; Sheamus looks like he’s gonna blow up before he finishes with the YKI.
Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger taking on Sheamus and Zack Ryder. Vickie talks before the match. Nobody listens. These four give us some great tag team chemistry and keep the crowd into the entire match. Ryder is able to score ANOTHER pinfall on Ziggler with the RoughRyder. The setup to Ryder hitting his finisher was awesome as Ziggler wasn’t even aware that Ryder had tagged himself into the match. One would assume that Ryder’s petition for a US Title match will be granted sooner rather than later. In my opinion, a ladder match at TLC would be the perfect setup for Ryder to finally capture some gold. Ryder definitely got the most cheers of the entire night, which he has been doing a lot as of late.
We go backstage to Daniel Bryan talking with AJ about what happened earlier with the WHC. Wade Barrett walks up and tells Bryan he has no chance of winning tonight. Bryan lays into him and tells him he isn’t intimidated by anybody. This intensity out of Bryan has you really believing that it might just be his time to shine as World Champion.
Heath Slater took on Ted Dibiase. Before the match started, Jinder Mahal appeared on the big screen and trash talked Dibiase for not having friends or taking advantage of his wealth. It’s interesting to finally see some legit storylines going along with the undercard talent. Slater and Dibiase put on a quick match that flowed with a fast pace. Dibiase was able to pick up the victory and continue the roll that he has been on as of late. I like where things are going for Dibiase; I also liked reading that Vince McMahon gave him the push because he finally stepped up with this posse gimmick to try and get himself noticed. If the locker room were to take a lesson, we could probably start having much more entertaining shows from guys willing to put themselves out there to be noticed.
Daniel Bryan, Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, and Randy Orton faced off in a fatal four way number one contenders match. Before the match, Rhodes cut a promo about what he did to Booker T on Monday night when he splashed the water in his face. Rhodes said he had no regrets for doing that to a lowly commentator. Rhodes and Barrett worked together during the majority of the match, but Orton and Bryan were able to overcome their teamwork. The finish set up with Orton and Barrett on the outside of the ring after Barrett pulled Orton out of the ring and hit him with a DDT and Bryan was able to apply the labell lock on an approaching Rhodes who tapped out quickly. Bryan will face Mark Henry for the WHC inside a steel cage live this Tuesday night on Smackdown! Rhodes attacked Bryan after the match but was hit with an RKO by Randy Orton. Orton gave Bryan a nod of respect when he left the ring. I don’t care who wants to call Randy Orton boring for having the same moveset; Orton has turned into a class act face that gives you entertaining matches on a consistent basis. To me, there’s nothing boring about him. I’m sure sooner rather than later we’ll see Orton in the World Title picture again, but for now he’s serving a great purpose in boosting Barrett and Rhodes to greater heights.
The show wasn’t overbooked. The only squash match was the divas tag contest. The wrestling was solid without any botch-cara around to flub things up. Zack Ryder was able to showcase some of his actual wrestling ability. I love Sheamus’ character now with the potential to blow a fuse at any moment. Mark Henry won’t be World Champion for much of 2012! Overall, I really don’t have much to complain about with the show. My World War 3 reflection will be coming soon and I’ll have a RAW column up Tuesday. Until next time, you’ve been ThunderStruck!
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